Tuesday, December 23, 2014

The X-Factor In Musk's Human Transport Concept Gets A Boost

Hyperloop
capsules being loaded with human and luggage cargo for a very quick and
insulated trip that will be amongst the fastest type of
public/commercial transportation devised by man. Image Credit: Daily
Mail via Space X (2014)

The X-Factor In Musk's Human Transport Concept Gets A Boost

While standing in a long line at a Costco Wholesale during the Christmas
season holiday, one may notice how communication from the checkout
cashpoint to the central management office is accomplished.

The "Checker" at the cashpoint, with the all of the scanners, credit
card terminals, and printers, also is equipped with a tube system that
allows one to take checks, money, and other paper-based monied
communications, place them in a cylinder, which is then placed in the
tube and sucked through vacuum pressure where at the other end of the
tube, the information is delivered almost instantly.

Marshall
Fields central communications (1947) - Before the invention of phones
and fax machines, people in cities sent messages through a huge system
of underground tubes filled with compressed air. Image Credit:
chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress-dot-com

Management is assured that these communications that result in good
profits never become breached from point-to-point due the closed nature
of this pneumatic tube system.

A
typical Costco Wholesale cashpoint section where the pneumatic tubes of
the money transfer system can be seen routed along the ceiling of the
store. Image Credit: Flickr

This is the precise idea behind PayPal, Tesla Motors, and Space X
founder and CEO Elon Musk. He believes that the findings of a recent
76-page report may go a long way in proving his pneumatic tube
proposal/argument that a human transport system such as this vacuum "hyperloop" that is in use at all Costco stores is the future of human mass transportation from point-to-point.

Report: Elon Musk's 'hyperloop' idea could workBy Chris Woodyard - 12-22-2014 - USATodayEnthusiasts behind Elon Musk's "hyperloop" proposal -- an intercity
tube that speeds passengers riding in capsules at 600 miles per hour --
have taken the next step, producing a report outlining some of the big
issues around the project.Hyperloop Transportation Technologies' 76-page report focuses issues
surrounding a system that could connect San Francisco with Los Angeles.
The report says, however, that there are many city pairs around the
world that would be candidates for a hyperloop.The 400-plus-mile trip would take less than an hour, compared to more
than six hours of driving. The goal is to keep the ticket price in the
$20 to $30 range, although the report points out that at total cost
estimates of $16 billion, they could go higher. Still, it says,
hyperloop would be a bargain compared to alternatives. "If this same
overall price point were preserved for other city pairings, it could
dramatically change the way people live and work in cities," the report
says.----"The Hyperloop design uses a combination of low air pressure and
magnetic acceleration to get people from LA to SF in just about 30
minutes," the report says. It would produce its own electricity from
solar power.----Passengers would travel in aerodynamic pods the size of vans inside
the tube. HTT envisions developing three designs -- one each for luxury
passengers, economy economy passengers and freight. ----HTT estimates that the cost of the system would be $20 million to $45
million a mile, as contrast from what it says are costs of up to $200
million a mile for conventional mass transportation system.
[Reference Here]

The report does point out one of the many problems of a self-contained
closed loop pneumatic tube system ... how would passengers deal with an
uncontrollable "Nature Calls" or a "Mile High Club"-like situation?